Thirteen new sites have been added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, which now includes 631 sites in 119 countries, 14 of which are transboundary sites. The new reserves were designated by the International Coordinating Council of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, at its meeting in Jönkoping (Sweden) and in the East Vättern Landscape biosphere reserve, from 10 to 13 June.
What are UNESCO biosphere reserves? How do they work? How does the balance between the interests of environmental protection and social and economic development work? This 3-minutes video prepared by the German Commission for UNESCO jointly with German biosphere reserves, explains you these and other related issues about biosphere reserves.
One of the island of Tenerife’s leading geomatics
experts has spoken at a sustainability conference that took place at the RAC
Club at Pall Mall on Friday May 2 2014.
The event, which was hosted by scientific field
trip organisersGeoTenerife,
contained talks by a number of leading scientists and government officials from
the island.
Dr Javier Pérez Marrero, of the Sustainability
Observatory for the Biosphere of El Hierro, delivered a fascinating talk on the
work done by Interra to promote sustainability in biospheres.
This geomatic tool digests lots of data into an accessible format
In his talk, he explained that Biosphere Smart was
an ICT tool to help achieve a sustainable future through territorial
intelligence. It is used by UNESCO to share ideas and knowledge amongst
biosphere reserves, including the island of El Hierro. Adopted by UNESCO's Man
and Biosphere International Coordination Council, it is devoted to helping
biospheres accomplish their mandate.
"ICT can provide a lot of relevant data but
this must be translated into useful information," he said. "If people
are taking important decisions about their environment and energy policies,
they need qualified information."
Biosphere Smart was also developed as a key tool
to support governments ensure future investments fall within required
parameters. "When a territory is awarded a Biosphere Reserve title, it is
committed to accomplishing several mandates," said Marrero.
According to Sharon Backhouse, Director of
GeoTenerife, this tool will be helpful on a number of levels. "Firstly, it
allows us all to look at complex information in a user-friendly way. Want to
know where the best spot is to put a wind farm in Tenerife? This geomatic tool
digests lots of data into an accessible format to do just that. But it is a lot
more than that.
“We all know how unsustainable unchecked
development was in the past. You only have to look at some of the bloated
tourist developments by the coast in some towns in the Canary Islands to see
evidence of that. Thankfully, we are entering a new era, one where there is
more respect shown for the delicate ecosystems on these beautiful islands.
There is no reason why development, investment and the environment cannot be
respectful of each other. Biosphere Smart is a tool that will allow
governments, planners, investors - any one of us, in fact, to make smarter,
greener choices."
Dr Pérez Marrero delivered his talk to a room
filled with representatives from dozens of UK-based renewable energy companies,
along with delegates from African embassies and educationalists.
Also present at the conference was the Cabildo de
Tenerife, which was represented on the day by Miguel Diaz Llanos (Councillor
responsible for Energy) and Eduardo Pintado Mascareno (Councillor responsible
for Commerce).
